Alan Deere
Alan Christopher Deere, was a New Zealand fighter ace with the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He was also known for several near-death experiences over the course of the war. This led to his published autobiography being titled Nine Lives.
Born in Westport, New Zealand, in 1917, Deere was commissioned in the RAF in January 1938. Posted to No. 54 Squadron, he flew Supermarine Spitfires during the Battle of France and became a fighter ace by the end of May 1940. For his exploits he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross the following month. He participated in the subsequent Battle of Britain, during which he shot down several more enemy aircraft, and had his Spitfire destroyed from under him more than once. His continued accomplishments earned him a bar to his DFC in September 1940. He was soon promoted to squadron leader, and commanded No. 403 Squadron RCAF for several months in 1942. He led a fighter wing from Biggin Hill for six months in 1943, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his achievements. By the end of the war, he was credited with the destruction of 22 enemy aircraft, ranking him the second-highest scoring New Zealand fighter ace. Later research has seen this total revised to 17 victories.
Deere remained in the RAF after the war, commanding several stations and training establishments. He also wrote his autobiography, which was published in 1959. He left military service in 1967, having risen to the rank of air commodore, and continued to live in the United Kingdom. In civilian life, he worked with the RAF as its sporting director until his retirement in 1972. As a well-known fighter ace of the Second World War, he was sought after by media and historians for commentary and interviews on air warfare. He died of cancer in 1995.
Early life
Alan Christopher Deere was born in Westport, New Zealand, on 12 December 1917, the third of six children of Terrence Deere, a New Zealand Railways worker, and his wife, Teresa. Descended from Irish immigrants, the family lived in Westport, on the coast of the South Island, until 1930, when they moved to Wanganui. Deere attended Marist Brothers' School and then Wanganui Technical College, becoming an accomplished athlete in rugby, cricket and boxing; he represented Wanganui at the New Zealand Boxing Championship. He was also successful academically.When Sir Charles Kingsford Smith visited Wanganui in his 1933 tour with the Southern Cross, he offered paid flights in his aircraft; Deere was one who took up the offer and, from then on, became interested in learning how to fly. After finishing his schooling, Deere worked on a sheep farm before taking up employment as a law clerk. In 1936, through his family doctor, he discovered that the Royal Air Force was open to applications from men from the Dominions, reinvigorating his desire to fly. As his father did not approve of his intention to join the RAF, Deere persuaded his mother to sign the necessary application form. He passed the selection board, presided over by Wing Commander Ralph Cochrane, in April 1937 and sailed for England on the Rangitane in September.
Military career
Arriving in London in October 1937, Deere began his flight training with No. 13 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School at White Waltham. He had failed a medical check owing to high blood pressure, and had to undertake further tests that he passed, the previously high readings being put down to excitement at the prospect of flying.Deere's flight training went well and he soloed in a de Havilland Tiger Moth trainer aircraft in November 1937. On 9 January 1938 he was granted a short service commission as an acting pilot officer on probation. He then commenced initial officer training at RAF Uxbridge for two weeks before, on 21 January, proceeding to No. 6 Flying Training School at Netheravon in Wiltshire. His prowess at boxing saw Deere selected for the RAF boxing team to tour South Africa but he chose to remain in England to focus on flight training. The aircraft on which the boxing team travelled crashed at Bulawayo, in Rhodesia, killing several of the RAF personnel on board.
In May 1938, Deere was awarded his wings. Selected for Fighter Command, he progressed to flying the Hawker Fury, a biplane fighter, before being posted to No. 54 Squadron three months later. His new squadron, which was based at Hornchurch in Essex, flew Gloster Gladiator fighters. As the entire squadron was on leave at the time of his arrival, for two weeks he was temporarily attached to No. 74 Squadron, which also flew out of Hornchurch. He was assigned to the section commanded by Flight Lieutenant Adolph 'Sailor' Malan, who arranged for him to have some flying time on a Gloster Gauntlet fighter. When Deere began service with No. 54 Squadron he initially performed administrative duties and it was some time before he was given the opportunity to fly his own Gladiator. Much of the squadron's training in peacetime involved formation flying and fighter tactics, but Deere also played rugby for Rosslyn Park, a South London club. Opponents included London Welsh and Old Blues RFC. His rank as a pilot officer was made substantive on 28 October 1938.
No. 54 Squadron began converting to Supermarine Spitfire fighters in early 1939, Deere flying his for the first time on 6 March. Although he enjoyed flying Gladiators, he found the Spitfire to be "marvellous". At one point, as he familiarised himself with the aeroplane, he blacked out as he was climbing at. When he recovered the Spitfire was diving towards the sea. Pulling out of the dive, he returned to Hornchurch and sought medical attention. It was found that one of Deere's eardrums had burst as a consequence of neglecting to increase his flow of oxygen as he increased his altitude. He was unable to fly until he recovered.
Second World War
On the outbreak of the Second World War, No. 54 Squadron began flying convoy escort patrols and missions aimed at intercepting German reconnaissance aircraft. Within a matter of days, it was involved in the Battle of Barking Creek, when it was one of several squadrons scrambled in pursuit of aircraft detected by radar and two Hawker Hurricane fighters were shot down in a friendly fire incident. At the time, Deere noted the need for improvement in how ground controllers directed the intercepting fighters as he found the volume of directions issued difficult to follow. The squadron also occasionally flew night patrols, which were not popular with pilots as the Spitfire was ill-equipped for this role. On one such patrol Deere, directed by a controller, very nearly flew into a set of barrage balloons over Harwich and then ran into a perimeter fence when landing at a foggy Hornchurch.Battle of France
The Battle of France had commenced on 10 May 1940 and saw the gradual retreat of the British Expeditionary Force to the French coast at Dunkirk and Calais. With the British squadrons already operating in France struggling to cope, from 16 May, No. 54 Squadron began to provide extra air cover over the Allied positions there. Deere was involved with the first, uneventful, patrol, and over the coming days flew several more such patrols, often two or three a day, across the English Channel to Dunkirk.On 23 May Deere and Pilot Officer John Allen were detailed to escort Flight Lieutenant James Leathart, flying a Miles Master, a two-seat trainer, over to Calais to rescue No. 74 Squadron's commanding officer, Squadron Leader Laurie White, who had made a forced landing at an airfield there. During this mission, and in sight of Leathart, Deere claimed his first combat victories, shooting down two of several Messerschmitt Bf 109s fighters that had approached while the Magister was still on the airfield. He damaged a third Bf 109 but ran out of ammunition and, with Allen, had to return to England. The mission was a success, for Leathart was able to collect White and fly back to Hornchurch. The action gave Deere an insight into the qualities of the Bf 109, which he considered "in the hands of a good pilot was a tough nut to crack. Initially, it was faster in the dive, but slower in the climb; the Spitfire could out-turn but it was at a disadvantage in manoeuvres that entailed negative G forces . Overall, there was little to choose between the two fighters."
The following day, while the squadron was flying near Saint-Omer in the Calais region, a formation of Heinkel He 111 medium bombers accompanied by Bf 109s and Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighters was spotted. An attempt to attack the bombers was interrupted by the Bf 109s and during the resulting melee, Deere shot down one of the fighters. On 26 May, with the squadron at over Gravelines covering a convoy of ammunition ships, he shot down two Bf 110s. These had disrupted his attempt to intercept some German bombers that were attacking a British destroyer off Calais. His aircraft was badly damaged during this action, part of a wing being shot away.
Operation Dynamo, the British effort to evacuate the BEF from Dunkirk, commenced on 26 May. The RAF now began to tightly cover Dunkirk and the English Channel, protecting the ships of the evacuation fleet as much as possible. Accordingly, No. 54 Squadron would fly several times a day to Dunkirk during the evacuation. On an afternoon patrol on 27 May, Deere destroyed a Junkers Ju 88 medium bomber attacking a hospital ship, and shared in the destruction of another. The next day, Deere led the squadron, now down to eight serviceable aircraft, on its final dawn patrol before it was withdrawn for a rest. Coming across a Dornier Do 17 light bomber, he led a section of his flight in pursuit while the rest the squadron continued with its patrol. In making an attack on the Do 17, his own Spitfire was damaged by machine-gun fire from its rear gunner. This forced him to make an emergency landing on a Belgian beach, during which he was knocked unconscious. After coming to, he made his way on foot to a nearby town where his head injuries were dressed. He hitched a ride on a British Army lorry to Dunkirk, and boarded a boat to Dover, then travelled via London to Hornchurch, where he had taken off some 19 hours earlier. During his boat ride to Dover, he was subject to scathing comments from soldiers about the effectiveness of the RAF's fighter cover.
For its rest, No. 54 Squadron had moved to RAF Catterick in Yorkshire. After ten days of non-stop flying over Dunkirk, it had been depleted in both pilots and aircraft. It returned to Hornchurch on 4 June 1940, with new Spitfires and replacement pilots, and began flying reconnaissance missions to northern France and Belgium. On one such mission in the Abbeville area, Deere and Leathart between them badly damaged a Ju 88, counting it as a probable. Later in the month Deere's award of the Distinguished Flying Cross was announced, and was presented to him by King George VI at a ceremony at Hornchurch on 27 June. His citation for the DFC read:
By July 1940, No. 54 Squadron was back to flying convoy and coastal patrols. On the afternoon of 9 July, while leading a patrol between Deal and Dover, a Heinkel He 59 seaplane was sighted along with an escort of several Bf 109s. Ordering one section to pursue the seaplane, Deere took another section to deal with the escort. He shot down one Bf 109 but collided with a second, flown by Oberfeldwebel Johann Illner of Jagdgeschwader 51. As a result of the glancing blow with the Bf 109, the propeller blades of Deere's Spitfire were bent backwards, his cockpit hood partially stove in, the engine disabled, and much of the fin and rudder lost. Already heading inland prior to the collision, he glided to a forced landing in a paddock near Manston, in Kent. The hood, damaged in the collision, proved difficult to open but he was able to escape before his burning aircraft was destroyed by flames. He spent the night at the nearby RAF airbase before returning to Hornchurch the next day. In the meantime, Illner was able to return to France in his own badly damaged aircraft while the He 59 was forced down at Goodwin Sands and its crew taken prisoner.